When I decided to make my lists of my favorite and worst Star Trek episodes, I knew I’d never seen all the episodes, much less in the original broadcast order. Fortunately, Netflix has the show, so I watched there. As a result, I saw some of the ones I’d never got around to. “The Omega Glory” was one of these, and it’s one I wish I’d skipped.
The Enterprise finds the USS Exeter, orbiting Omega IV. They had been searching for the Exeter since it had stopped communicating with Starfleet. When Kirk and an away team board the ship, it is deserted. Kirk finds a log entry warning them the ship is quarantined. They now have contracted a disease, and the only cure is on the planet below.
When they beam down, they discover two things. All the inhabitants have very long life spans, reaching several centuries. They also find the Exeter’s crew, led by captain Ron Tracey. Tracey thought there may be the fabled “Fountain of Youth”, but it seems the inhabitants just have long lives for no reason. Tracey tells them that the planet is locked in a civil war between primitives called “Yangs” and the villagers, called “Kohms”. It is also discovered that the Yangs’s society has sacred words, like freedom and E. Pluribus Unum, and a flag similar to the one the United States had during the Revolutionary War. They even have documents resembling the US Constitution.
This episode is a ridiculous attempt at patriotism. I find it silly that there is a society just like colonial America on another planet, with exactly the same documents that started my country’s history. This episode was aired late in the second season, and seems like another attempt to save the show, much like “Bread and Circuses” or “Operation: Earth”. It’s embarrassing.
Next, we return to the best episodes, and an episode that I feel is the best one featuring the Klingons, and a great look at the problems of the Prime Directive: “A Private Little War”.
Aspie Catholic 